Video electroencephalogram in occipital lobe epilepsy

Abstract

Objective To investigate the characteristics of video electroencephalogram (VEEG) in patients with occipital lobe epilepsy (OLE) to improve the clinical diagnostic rate of OLE. Methods Twenty-five patients with OLE were collected in our hospital from June 2013 to February 2017 and received VEEG monitoring in our epilepsy center. Their clinical symptoms and VEEG characteristics were retrospectively analyzed. Results Nineteen patients (76.00%) had visual auras based on previous history, five (38.46%) had visual auras during VEEG monitoring. Three patients had epileptic discharge confined to occipital lobe and two had epileptic discharge confined to posterior temporal lobe in interictal phase, while 20 had epileptic discharge involved more than one lobe of the brain. In ictal phase, 8 had clear discharge origin or earliest evolution in occipital lobe. Five showed abnormal EEG in the other brain areas, which needed other clinical information for diagnosing OLE. Conclusions The visual aura is typical characteristic of OLE, and there are specific manifestations of EEG in both inter-ictal phase and ictal phase. Key words: Occipital lobe epilepsy; Video electroencephalogram; Clinical semiology